Shattered
by ImpossibleJedi4
Summary: After an accident, Hero has to be the quest leader, guiding an injured RGB back to the Market to save his life. Multi-chapter, warnings for depictions of injury. I took the cover image, it's actual TV glass.
1. Chapter 1

**AN: Hi there! Presenting a multi-chapter hurt-comfort fic! Some of the ideas in this were posed by my friend Opal; she's awesome to plot with!**

"Hey RGB? Where are we?"

The TV-headed man was startled out of his musings by the voice of his young Hero, who was tugging on the end of the bamboo cane a little. He offered a small smile and turned, spreading his arms.

"Welcome to the Tunnels of Loneliness," he said, with far too much cheer for someone announcing a name like _that._

"... Makes sense," Hero said with a nod after pausing for just a moment. "It's cold and echoey in here." She looked up at the ceiling, icicles mingling with stoney stalactites.

"That it is," replied RGB as he turned and continued their trek. There was only a few moments of the quiet taps of feet on rock before Hero spoke up again.

"I can see our breath!" First she breathed out heavily, causing a puff of vapor to trail away into the dead air. Then she pointed to RGB's vents. "I _knew_ you used those things to breathe!"

"Oh, did you?" he said dryly, a smile quirked up on his screen.

"Uh huh," Hero nodded.

"Very clever."

Silence lapsed again as Hero's eyes became more inclined to look at her surroundings. The walls were a deep grayish teal, and she couldn't tell if they were crystal or ice. They shined in a way that dull rock didn't.

As they ventured deeper into the cave, crops of shining white crystals began to appear, clustered like bacterial colonies on a petri dish. They looked like pure quartz crystals, complete with a faint blueish tint, but when Hero tapped one with her finger, a chill struck her.

"Ice," she muttered, kicking carefully at it before moving onwards. Other passages began to lead off of the main one, and Hero, sweater sleeve folded over her fingers to ward off the cord, gripped the cane tighter.

She wouldn't want to get lost here.

"Oh good grief."

Hero looked up and did a double take. "What…" There were now small white flakes drifting lazily through the air, though there was no wind. "Snow?"

"No," RGB muttered, picking up the pace. "The byproduct of annoyances."

"Annoyances?"

"Tiny bugs. Like gnats. Godawful things." RGB's speech had become clipped as he tugged Hero along. "Don't breathe them in."

Hero clapped her free hand over her mouth and nose, breathing through her sweater as she trotted along. She wanted to ask more about the small, silvery, nearly see-through insects that were descending, but RGB had said to keep her mouth shut. Her first question would be to ask why, but she had a feeling if she asked, she'd find out.

And she didn't want to find out _that_ way.

"OH DAMNATION!"

RGB let go of the cane abruptly and began waving his hands around his head as the things swarmed him. Hero let go of her end too and the bamboo cane clattered to the ground with a hollow rattle.

She was giggling furiously through the fabric of her sweater, both hands now over her mouth. RGB just looked so _ridiculous_ there, jumping and yelping and trying escape the bugs. He was even making wordless exclamations every so often. He reminded her of some funny dancers she'd seen in the city square once before, all jerky and discombobulated. She'd laughed then too, and one of the performers had winked at her.

As RGB was trying to swat the cloud of annoyances away from his vents (if one got inside, it would become an irritation), he stumbled, halting his crazed dance of "get it off me!" Hero's endless giggles swiftly turned into a yelp as RGB tripped, landing splayed facedown across one of the cold crystal structures she'd poked at earlier.

The moment he crashed into the crystal, there was a shattering noise, and then RGB didn't move. Hero froze as well, the laughter-turned-shout dying in her throat. _That noise was the crystal, right? 'Cuz it's ice and ice isn't very strong? And RGB is shivering because it's ice and it's COLD… Right?_

Finally, hesitantly, she moved forwards to tap at RGB's shoulder. "Hey RGB, you're okay, right?"

A faint buzz, a broken noise, was all she got in reply. It took the television monster three tries to get a grip on the slick material, but he finally was able to shove himself away from the sharp protrusions.

Hero's horrified eyes locked onto a six-inch spike of ice at the crown of the structure, coated in sticky rainbow ink and surrounded by shattered glass. She nearly gave herself whiplash, turning back to RGB. His clothes had various little tears in them from other sharp spears, but her gaze glossed over those in favor of the mess that was his face.

The thick glass had fully shattered, leaving only a few shards clinging to the plastic casing like the minimal teeth in a hockey player's mouth. Ink in all five colors was splattered down his front, and Hero could see five… Cartridges? Maybe? That's what they looked like, anyways, like something out of a printer. Five cartridges were located inside the TV set, dribbling color, sparks zipping across them every so often. Other, surprisingly normal-looking electronics and tubes lay exposed, like nerves and veins, and Hero's mouth hung open.

Only a cough, full of static, and a spray of ink onto the frozen ground broke the spell and galvanized her action.

"RGB!" she cried, voice cracking a little as it hit octaves it really shouldn't.

"I…" RGB's voice was full of static, more electricity sparking from the ink cartridges. His shaking hand came up to touch the bottom edge of the television set, and he flinched. "Czzan't… SEE!"

His voice rose into a buzzing howl that grew in pitch and desperation, laced with pain like poison in wine. The monster's entire form was quivering, shaking like energy had him in its grip and Hero knew, knew that it was because he was hurting so very much. She'd once had a stomachache so bad she'd stayed in bed and shivered all day.

This was considerably worse.

But at least the annoyances had left.

She reached out and gently took his hand, unsurprised when he cringed away, antennas crinkling flat like a startled cat's ears. She knew he was flinchy at the best of times; he was sure to be worse when blind.

"I… I'm here," she whispered, clutching his glove in both of her hands now, scared herself. Was he dying? How would they continue their quest? Could she help him? What would happen now?

And, most importantly of all… She didn't want her guide and friend to be hurt, to die… She didn't want to lose him.

"Is there anything––"

"The Mzzarket," he choked out, coughing again, ink beginning to drip onto his collar. Once again he tried to press his gloved hand to his mouth and encountered nothingness in its place. "T-take me back… Thzzey… They can fixxxxx it thzzere."

Hero was not about to bring up that they had gotten banned. He probably knew, and if he had forgotten then she did not want to kill his hope. She was old enough to know how dire the situation was and that the Market was their best hope at the moment.

"It's gonna be night soon," she remembered then. "We need to find a place to rest… You need sleep so we can get back to the Market as quickly as possible."

"No!" he yelped as he moved to push himself to his knees. "We czzan't… Can't sleep hzzere. Gets tzoo… Cold." He coughed again and more ink splashed onto the ground. Blue and yellow.

Pain.

Hero finally leapt to her feet, picking up RGB's fallen cane and tossing one more look at the spar of crystal still dripping with RGB's paint. She slipped the hooked end into his hand.

"C'mon, then, I know the way we came!" The young girl tried to force her voice to stay chipper and hopeful as she helped tug him to his feet. But she didn't feel it in her heart. "I'll lead you this time."

With a sort of sniffling noise, the monster allowed himself to be pulled upright, swaying slightly. He left the hand not gripping the cane outstretched, ready to encounter anything he might run into before his face did.

At least no more swarms of annoyances to plague their path, Hero noticed. She wasn't exactly sure why that was. Perhaps they only manifested further in the cave? But she did know that she did not want to know what happened if they tried to fly into RGB's head. Even thinking the words provoked a shudder.

"Azzre… You g-gettinggggg… Cold?" She felt a drip of ink hit her shoulder, blood-warm, and twisted slightly to see RGB standing a little closer.

"N-no…" But as she said the words, Hero discovered that, despite her thick sweater, she _was_ cold. "Actually… A-a little."

She put a little more speed into her step as they moved closer and closer to the outside of the cave.

RGB was… 'Hanging in there' was an accurate description of how RGB was doing. It literally looked like someone had grabbed him by the shirtcollar and that was the only reason he was upright.

Not being able to see, having the glass that he used for an eye smashed to oblivion… RGB hated the pain, obviously, especially since he'd always been so afraid of hurting, but he hated the vulnerability just as much. Here he was, the very worst monster, relying on the guidance of a child.

A child not from this world, even.

But at least they were simply backtracking. If it had been all new terrain for his hero, RGB would have found himself too deep in despair to move on. He couldn't guide her if he couldn't see.

"Okay we're out of the cave now," piped up Hero's voice, knocking RGB's 'what ifs' loose onto the stoney gravel of the path.

"Thzzank…. Heavens…" he mumbled, not wanting to speak very loudly. It hurt, and made i feel like he was choking, no matter that he had no throat. He could feel the colors he had already lost soaking into his shirtfront; normally they just ran off, but then again normally they didn't normally leak in such copious amounts. Luckily it would run out like water later...

"There's a tree by the entrance…" Hero looked up at RGB, who nodded slightly, releasing another wave of color and swaying slightly. "Okay we'll stay there. It's already warmer."

And warmer it was. But the ground beneath the tree was still hard and rocky, and definitely not suitable for sleeping. When RGB was in charge, he might be able to plop down anywhere, but now that Hero had to lead…

"Okay here's the tree," she said, tugging on her end of the cane and taking RGB's hand, placing his palm flat against the reddish-purplish trunk. "Just lean against that. You… Kinda look like you're gonna fall over." He couldn't see her sympathetic gaze.

"Wzzzzhat… A-are you… Dzoing?"

Hero didn't answer. She was too focused on tugging up some of the blueish teal grasses that were growing around. It wasn't hard to gather an armful, and soon she began spreading it over the hard rock at the base of the tree. A few layers later and she had created two comfortable sort of nests.

"There we go!" Accomplishing the small task had pulled up Hero's spirits a little. She wasn't a terrible leader… She had good ideas! RGB himself had even called her clever… A natural… She could do this.

"Did wzzzzhat?" came the hacking, static voice. She looked up at RGB clinging to the tree trunk, and moved to take his hand again.

"Kneel here. I made us beds out of grass." After doing as instructed, he patted around, getting a feel for it, before leaning back against the tree.

"... Resourcefzzzul," he said hoarsely. Hero beamed at him before remembering that he couldn't see her. So she just curled up in her little grass patch, grateful to be off her aching feet.

"... The stars are pretty here," she said in a rather sleepy voice, looking up at the sky that was indeed patterned with a radiant stellar display. "I don't remember seeing them before."

"The stzzzars are out?" said RGB in a disbelieving whisper. He turned his face to her as though he could see her, and the lack of a glowing screen was unnerving.

"Are they normally not here?"

"N-no." A beat, then, "they're rare. I… I w-wish I czzzould… See them."

Hero had no answer for that. She simply reached across the gap and placed her small hand on his before closing her eyes.

RGB wasn't far behind. As more color stained the grass below him, he slipped into delusional fever dreams. But at least, for a bit, he was out of the reach of his pain.


	2. Chapter 2

**AN: Sorry if there's any mistakes or confusion here, I didn't do much editing! Hope you enjoy anyways!**

Hero slept fitfully that night. Upon waking, she found her grass nest scrambled, and could not remember anything about her dreams except that they had been extremely colorful.

With the colors she was currently dealing with, that did not mean anything good.

She uncurled from her little fetal position and rolled onto her back, looked up at the morning sky. Then she jerked away again, a visceral reaction to the lukewarm sticky puddle that she'd rolled into. Scrambling to her hands and knees, Hero's eyes fell upon, what seemed to her, a lake of paint.

It was RGB's ink, mostly yellow and blue and red but including his green and magenta as well. But Hero didn't care about _which_ colors were present, but rather _how much._ She had speculated before if the ink was blood, drool, or something else entirely.

Now, she didn't want to think of the possibility of it being blood at all. Because no way could a person… Survive…

"RGB!" She shot to her feet and then fell back to her knees next to the television monster, laying a shaking hand on his shoulder. He was surrounded completely by the sticky liquid, and when Hero moved to see his face she realized it was still dribbling from the cartridges.

"Wake up," she begged, a tremor in her voice and soul, grabbing his forearm and tugging a little. RGB only moved a little, limply, like a masterless puppet. His hat was floating in the ink next to him, and Hero snatched it and shook the colors off.

But when she tried to place it on his head, it didn't float like usual and she had to choke back a desperate sob. He couldn't be dead. No, no way could he be dead.

"C'mon, RGB, we gotta get back to the market…" Her hand was settled on the top of his head, the plastic feeling lifeless… She felt sick… "So get up, okay?"

What was there left to try? She had no [|||||] left to try and zap him with, because even waking him up with something bad would be a relief because it would mean he would _wake up_ , and…

Hero gripped her arms to her chest tightly. She needed to calm down. Panicking and thinking about what she couldn't do was useless. She was a big girl, a hero, and heroes were not useless.

"... You have antennas right?" she said aloud, though she knew she'd get no answer. Sniffling and wiping the tear tracks from her cheeks, she crawled around to the top of his head. The two thin metal wires were crumpled with discomfort, almost looking like they were trying to escape, detach from his TV set and crawl away.

"M-maybe they're like… Hair," she mumbled, reaching out and tugging one.

While normally this would have elicited a monumental reaction from RGB, full of leaping up and probably cursing violently, but now… A few sparks crackled over the ink cartridges, more fluid pouring from them, and RGB's whole body shuddered.

He picked up his head from the ground a little, strings of paint dripping from it, calling out weakly in the moment before his situation hit him again. "M-Magnus…?"

In the last second he had before the pain and terror hit him, the man reached out a shaking hand to grasp at the person he couldn't see but he hoped was there. When he encountered no comforting prism-headed partner, his hand lowered, coming to rest in a puddle of green paint, leaving RGB shivering and alone, or so he thought.

"H-hey, I'm here," Hero said, not wanting to touch him again for fear of scaring him. But it was he who ended up scaring her, because he let out a thready scream, the pain finally having flooded back to him as soon as he'd realized he'd woken.

"Whzzzy…. Can't…. C-can't…. Hurtszzzzz… Help m-me! Help me, Magnuszzz! Pleazzzzse!"

"It's me… It's Hero." She took his glove in her hand again, noting somewhere in the back of her mind that she'd held his hand more during this 12 hour period than she had in the whole rest of the journey.

Slowly, too slowly, the scream died off as RGB regained a hold on his memories of the day before, separating dream from reality, peeling them apart like sheets of paper drenched in glue.

RGB has still been hurting in his dream, but less so. More of a dull ache than a jagged burn. At the beginning, something had been… Attacking him, he thought. Until Magnus had come. Magnus had saved him. And Magnus had comforted him until the pain was almost not even there…

But then the harsh reality had sent him crashing back to his little nightmare world, now made so small since he couldn't see… The real world, where he was blind, where he was in pain, where he has walked out on Magnus.

How RGB ended up sobbing, he wasn't sure. It happened all at once, and really everything did seem so distorted now. But he was holding Hero to his paint-soaked chest, shivering, wracked with pain and anguish that even he didn't truly understand but he had to deal with anyways.

(For a brief moment, he wondered if this was the sort of thing his other heroes had felt, as they died.)

The ink leaving him as he cried made his head throb more, but he simply couldn't stop. He was helpless.

Hero hadn't expected the hug. Didn't expect the shaky hands gripping her sweater like she'd vanish if they didn't. Didn't expect the warm liquid soaking into her hair like viscous tears.

Reaching up, she realized it was almost completely blue. Yes, there were traces of yellow, but…

RGB was actually crying. Really and truly crying.

When that finally sunk into her mind like the paint into her hair, she hugged him back with all the strength in her tiny body. She knew that when adults cried, it was only at a last resort because they didn't know what to do.

RGB crying scared her, a little. He was the sort of adult/man/monster/appliance that she would have guessed _never_ cried. But here they were.

"It'll be okay." Her voice was very small. "We're gonna go back to the market and fix it, okay? You'll be able to see, a-and talk, and smile again. Promise."

"Czzzan't… p-promise thzzat," said RGB quietly, his 'tears' slowing. But still, her words warmed him to his core.

"Maybe…" There was a rustling, like Hero was digging through a pocket. "Maybe we can stop the ink from leaking so much. I think… I think losing that much is dangerous for you."

He nodded a little. "Dizzzzzzy. Head-d hurtzzz."

He couldn't see, but Hero had pulled a little green plastic case out of her pajamas shorts. She'd made sure when she bought the pajamas that they'd had pockets. Being a resourceful girl, she kept the travel first aid kit in her pocket at all times. When asked by her parents, she'd answered "just in case."

"Even in bed?" her mother had asked. She'd nodded.

"In case of monsters?" her father had teased, wiggling his fingers like ghastly claws. She'd giggled, and then that had been that. She'd never guessed that this would be the use for all those band-aids.

"I have some band-aids, RGB," she said quietly. "Maybe if I sort of… Cover the leaky bits, your colors will stay in?"

"Maybzzze…" Now he almost looked nervous, pulling back a little.

"No, you have to come _towards_ me," Hero coaxed, pulling on his hand a little. "Are you scared?"

".. No," the television monster said firmly, more clearly than he'd said anything else since his glass had smashed.

"I'll be careful." Moving so his head was at Hero's level, RGB tensed. Hero herself flinched a little at the gaping hole that felt like it was staring through her eyes into her soul, but she took out a tissue instead of letting it bother her.

She started with the green cartridge, since that one was the least leaky. After sopping up as much ink as she could, she stuck a few bandaids on. Always a clever one, she left a small gap so that some paint could escape. She didn't know if closing them off completely would hurt her guide.

Speaking of RGB, he'd simply made one intelligible, soft noise when she'd began cleaning up his face, and then had lapsed into tense silence.

"Is that okay?"

"... It fzzeels… Odd-d," he mumbled. "B-but lessszzz… open."

She'd have to take that as good thing, then. As quickly and as carefully as she could, Hero took care of the other four cartridges, leaving only the smallest of openings for the ink to flow. It took more bandaids for blue than for any other color.

Soon after that, once RGB felt strong enough to walk, they continued on their way. Hero still lead, tugging along the cane and thus RGB in a peculiar role reversal. It was particularly hazardous, because there were pools of clear water hidden in the grasses. Being the sort of girl with a love of rainboots, puddles had never particularly bothered Hero.

Now, of course, she had to skillfully steer RGB around each and every one, as he had done for her the day before. At one point she saw her reflection in one of the pools and was a little startled by the fact that her hair was now dyed with blue streaks. A strange side effect of RGB's paint from earlier? She wasn't sure, she'd been careful to shake out her hair where RGB wouldn't notice before they'd set out…

It wasn't that bad. She supposed blue was an okay color, though she wished it were green. For several reasons.

"... Hey RGB? Want me to tell you a story?" Hero looked back at the sagging monster, weariness etched into each fold of his suit. "When I was feeling bad under the sea, you told me one. Maybe I can tell you one this time!"

"... Pleaszzze."

It was not the answer she was expecting, but she began anyways. "Once upon a time…"

The little girl spun a tale full of animals, of a brave lion cub on an adventure with a hyena. They met bugs and mice and zebras, the little lion learned to roar, and the hyena found that he could be very brave indeed. It ended with the lion defeating the mean elephant that was keeping the savannah away from the watering hole, and then going home to her family. Her hyena companion visited frequently, and they all lived happily ever after.

Both wished, as they headed towards the woods on the horizon, that they were moving towards a happily ever after, at least from this unfortunate adventure. Both child and monster were quietly hoping for the best.


	3. Chapter 3

**AN: Sorry this took so long!** **Happy 6 years of TPOH everyone!**

The woods were brown and teal, leaves the color of the purest dioptase. The trees were fairly spaced out and not amazingly tall, and this coupled with the small size of the leaves made for a very bright forest.

Hero kicked at some clumps of fallen leaves on the stony ground as she led RGB along the obvious path. How was she to know that these trees shouldn't have been shedding at such an alarming rate? And RGB couldn't see to tell her.

So they simply continued on, through the vast and quiet forest, which RGB had labeled the Woods of the Wise on their first trip through. This had caused Hero to be on the lookout for the butterfly that had caused her to feel so uneasy when it appeared. But it had not shown up, much to her relief.

She very much hoped that it would keep away this time as well.

RGB had also mentioned that one could hear advice whispering through the trees when the wind blew. But it hadn't been windy then and it wasn't windy now, so Hero didn't strain her ears to listen. Besides, if she listened to closely all she would hear was RGB's unsteady panting.

And that would just make her scared.

The day passed uneventfully. The bandages on RGB's cartridges were holding up well, slowing the inky trickles to a more normal rate for the television monster. But he still seemed just as shaky as he had when they'd been flowing freely, and that, along with the sticky-sounding way he was breathing made Hero worried. Very worried.

She vowed that she wouldn't fall completely asleep that night. She'd doze, keeping an eye on her guide to make sure he didn't slip into that coma-like state again.

Of course, she vowed this all inside her head. She could imagine exactly what RGB would tell her if he knew of the plan. So she simply kept it to herself.

Looking back at him, she noticed the sky was finally darkening. Also that he looked just as tired as she felt. Even his collar was wilting like it has expended too much energy.

"Time to rest, RGB," she said, glad of the fluffy leaf piles lying around, pre-made. In fact, she flopped stomach-first in a big one, giggling for the first time in days. Leaning back on her hands and wiggling her feet, she looked up at RGB as he collapsed to one knee and then landed with a _fwumph_ into the leaf pile next to her.

Hero's momentary happiness had faded by the time they went to sleep, however. She remembered the deathlike state he'd been in that morning, all limp and unresponsive, and she would jolt out of her sleep to look over at him. Aside from a few leaves sticking to the bandaids on his cartridges, he seemed fine. A little restless too; she wondering what he was dreaming about. Good things, she hoped. Every time she did this little wake and check routine, she'd gently pat his shoulder before falling back into her bed of leaves once more.

She wished he'd swat her away in his sleep, but he didn't.

The next day was very uneventful, unfortunate in some ways but fortunate in others. Nothing caused problems, but is was dreadfully boring. The forest was the same as it had been the day before, same tiny, brilliant leaves and lack of wind. Same ground of thin stones like scales. Everything was just… Still.

When dead trees started appearing, the stillness began to shift from boring to creepy, uncanny. It was then Hero thought she began hearing whispers. However, whenever she tried to concentrate on the sounds, the wisp of a voice seemed to run through her mind like a vapor.

As the trees' leaves became more sparse, the day grew longer and the woods grew _creepier_ somehow. Was it the shadows? The way the trunks seemed shaggier with shards of bark peeling up? Hero wasn't sure, but it was getting more and more discomforting to be here.

But of course, she said nothing. She had to be here, and that's all there was to it. She'd suggested trying to walk through the night earlier, maybe with a short rest just before dawn. Wouldn't they cover more ground that way, she'd reasoned? RGB had wibbled and fretted in a more sickly way than usual, but he'd agreed to go on somewhat guiltily. It was only his pain that had made him agree, after all.

A soft plop sounded from behind her all of a sudden, and she turned, half expecting part of RGB, like his hands, to have simply fallen off. She relaxed when she found it was just his straw boater hat.

"Whyzzzzz… we szzzzztop?" RGB's head was tilted at a tired but still quizzical angle, and his chest was heaving up and down although his breathing was still nearly silent.

"Your hat fell off." Leaving the cane in RGB's hand, she walked over to the hat and picked it up, brushing off some bits of gravel. "Why? Doesn't it float?"

"Szzzzztatic," he said. "Weak-k-kening."

Oh. That wasn't good. At all. She saw him tug gently at his collar that was almost laying flat against his collarbone and gulped. But she didn't let her fear seep into her voice, not this time.

"Well, I'll keep it safe for now on my head, then!" she declared as cheerfully as she could muster, plonking the too-big hat onto her head, tilting the brim back. And then they continued.

The light had gone down a half an hour ago, but the strip of sky not obscured by clouds was painted a burnt orange and a deep navy. Hero could hardly keep her eyes on the path because somehow that piece of sky drew attention.

The deadened forest they were now walking through was eerie in how it was not still anymore. Empty, but active, unlike the section they'd been in before. The wind swept through it, not the sort of wind that knocks you over, but the sort that causes skeletal branches to creak and clack together, and leaves to tumble by and obscure the path.

All in all, the rush of leaves coupled with the distressed noises of the trees and just the sound of the wind itself were making Hero shiver. She half expected a werewolf or a goblin to jump out at her, eyes glowing beneath the crescent moon that peered fitfully through the clouds every so often.

Maybe not stopping had not been such a brilliant idea.

But then again, Hero reasoned, if they did stop to sleep here, in an area she could simply _feel_ was unsafe, they'd probably wake to some creature nibbling on their toes or worse.

When she heard a hiss sound through the forest that absolutely was NOT the wind, she immediately realized that the 'or worse' could just as easily apply to them while they were awake.

"Thzzzat… You?" RGB asked, jerking on the cane a little in his nervousness. They'd come to a halt, shuffling in place as the leaves blew around their ankles, seeming to shush the pair as they did.

"N-no…" Hero breathed out, moving closer to RGB. "That wasn't me at all… What did you say was in this forest?"

"Nxx… N-nothing," he managed, voice breaking once. "Shzzould be… saf-f-fe…"

"RGB the trees in this part are all dead," she choked out. "I didn't wanna tell you because I thought maybe you'd worry but… They're bare and the trunks are all peely like a sunburn and RGB now I'm scared too." Her voice had a quavery quality to it as she pressed closer to his midsection.

"Itzz'll be fine," he mumbled, swaying a little.

It was probably fate, somehow, that right when he said that the ugliest creature Hero had ever seen stepped into the path two dozen yard ahead. It almost looked like a toothy frog, but a lot more horrifying. A big, bulbous body was suspended on too thin legs, and it had no tail. A mouth full of snaggled fangs was set below a pair of glaring yellow eyes. Arguably worst of all was the fact that it was easily double RGB's height.

Hero stiffened against RGB and he gripped her shoulder tighter. "Whazzz wrong? Wha izzit?"

"Th-thing," she whispered. It was a moment before she could continue. "Big… Frog with teeth. Thing…" She was frozen, realizing that this, this was the scariest thing she'd seen so far. Oh yes, those spiky black fears had been scary, but this… Was something straight out of her nightmares. It was simply wrong.

"A… d-d-dread," RGB wheezed, turning abruptly, scooping her up. "We nzeeeed to… Run-n…"

Hero buried her face in his shoulder immediately as he began to stumble as fast as he could, which unfortunately wasn't very fast at the current moment. She heard the dread turn, shriek out a roar that sounded like the cry of that cougar she'd seen on an American nature documentary, and give chase.

They both knew it would catch them.

Before that could happen though, RGB tripped over his own feet, crying out in a burst of static and going down hard on the dusty stone. Hero tumbled from his grasp, landing in a pile of browning leaves and near disappearing.

She popped her head back out in time to see the dread staring at the prone RGB, who was struggling to get to his hands and knees. It snorted at him and he finally froze. Well, almost. He was still trembling.

"H-Hzzzero?" he managed to squeak out before the dread reared back a little, raising one of its clawed toady hands and snatched at RGB's head. It came in contact with his antennas and gripped them tightly, yanking upwards.

The sound that came out of RGB was nothing short of unearthly, a shriek that sounded human and mechanical and staticky all at once, like… Exactly like what a screaming TV would be expected to sound like. He squirmed like a fish on a hook when the creature lifted him off the ground, hands clawing feebly at the one holding him up.

Hero was frozen in horror. His antennas were surely going to be torn off, they couldn't hold his weight, especially not with him thrashing and spasming…

And with that, she realized she was feeling dread. The emotion. It must have summoned the beast, and she wanted to yell at herself angrily. Hope was what they needed! She now supposed she just had to be not so scared and go out there and face the thing.

With _confidence._

"HEY YOU!" Leaping out of the leaves and snatching up RGB's cane in one fluid motion, she pointed the straight bamboo end at the dread. "DROP HIM!"

Perhaps she should have specified, because it tossed him over what passed for its shoulder, leaving the television monster to thump to the ground between some trees. Then it turned to glare at her with those baleful yellow eyes. Like a big snake, but scary.

Hero didn't think of being scared though. She balled her fists, stuck out her chin, and glared right back. "You leave him ALONE!" And with that, she rapped the cane on the creature's forehead, hard.

It hissed again, a low noise that made her very bones shudder, but it backed off, heading the way it had come. There was no more dread here, that it knew. Not in that little girl.

But what of the crumpled monster, lying prone and unmoving in the leaf litter? Hero wasn't sure, but as she raced over, she knew that she did not want her worst fears confirmed.


	4. Chapter 4

He wasn't moving, not even a little, when she reached him. Not even a twitch. Her eyes were first drawn to the antennas, and she could see the metal was pulled and warped. There were even small nicks in the thin stalks where the creature's talons had scratched them.

"Oh RGB," she choked out, looking at what had once been his face, swallowing a sob. Gently, carefully, she extended a hand to rest on the plastic. It was cooler than it had been before, and it lacked that buzz… The feeling that Hero thought signified that he was alive.

She sniffled, raising a hand to wipe at her tears, smudging them across her face where they would dry and leave salt trails like war paint. Gently, gently, she laid down next to him, resting her cheek against that too-cold casing, clutching at him with her little four-fingered hands.

"G-g'bye, RGB." A little whisper, for only him to hear, if only he could. They (but were they still a they, or merely a she?) laid there, for how long she didn't know. But it was a substantial period of time indeed. When she finally did get up again, she looked down at her fallen monster companion. RGB did not stir.

So Hero turned, face to the wind, and began to walk. For what could she do to bury RGB? She was a small girl with only her hands. She would've done so if she could, but she couldn't.

A _snap_ brought her back to herself. Was that the dread breaking sticks in the forest? Had she stepped on a twig?

No. The noise had had an… _Electrical_ feel to it.

Only one person that could be. The little hero nearly gave herself whiplash turning around to gaze upon an RGB who was trying to get his arms under himself and prop himself up. It wasn't going well; his arms were shaking with little tremors. It almost seemed like he was having a seizure.

"RGB!" she shrieked, running back over, dropping to her knees so quickly she scuffed the end of her shorts. The monster's hat tumbled from her head, falling to the leaves below and lying forgotten. "RGB you're alive!"

He didn't answer her. He was too busy trying to catch his breath, now that he was sitting up. His breaths had taken on a sick sounding wheezing quality, and his head looked ready to slump right off his shoulders.

"Bzzz-arely," he muttered, voice sounding even more broken then before. Like he'd said 'to hell with keeping Hero from worrying' and just had given up entirely. "A-antennas…"

"They're pretty messed up," Hero admitted. "That creature really beat you up."

"H-" He broke off with a brittle cough. "H-how azzz-tute of you. How d-d-did you get izzzzt to leave?"

"Whacked it with your cane."

"A-ah." RGB knew the key to repelling a dread was showing no fear, but he'd forgotten in the moment. Why had he forgotten? "Of c-c-course you were ab-ble to gzzzet by i-i-it."

Hero was smiling, because forget RGB's dire condition, forget that they were in a dead and dangerous forest, he was _alive_ and _not dead_. "It's dark now, we need to find some good trees to rest under, right?"

"... Rzzzight."

RGB hesistated because he had no clue if he was going to be able to stand or not. His legs still felt heavy and twisted, even though he'd straightened them. Hero could see him struggling, and tried to help push him up.

After several attempts, the television monster found his footing, legs far apart and bent at odd angles, hands outstretched for balance. The stance was a far cry from RGB's usual grace, and that alone made Hero's smile falter. (Normally, at this point her smile would have only fallen to laugh at the ridiculous telly-head, but not this time.)

She gently gave him the end of the cane to hold again, and tried not to notice how he was now limping and how the last bits of glass had fallen from his casing. No, she was focused on finding trees. Real trees. She'd decided that the bed way to do this would be to simply follow their path. It had to lead to something, right?

For once, a hunch born of hope was right. The dead trees started to dwindle out while a soft pink glow grew. Grass was now growing in tufts as well, pushing the dead leaves aside and breaking through the stony ground.

Hero quickened her pace.

"P-pleazzzz… No f-faster," RGB said in a gasp, staggering.

"Oops, sorry," she said, eyes widening in realization. "I found something though… There's less dead trees, and grass is growing… And there's a big pink glow ahead."

".. Follow izzzzt."

And so they did. Not even five minutes later, they came to a clearing that radiated a peace even blind RGB could detect. It was about thirty feet across and contained a small grove of the most remarkable trees. They were low hanging and had deep, chocolate hued bark. Their leaves were almost fern-like except each little leaf was separate. The glow came from hundreds of fluffy pink flowers, growing from among the leaves like salmon colored butterflies. They looked like pom-poms, color more intense at the tips and fading to a luminous white towards the center.

And they were glowing, glowing like pink stars fallen to earth.

However they were not the only plant that was growing. Or glowing. There were vines, clad in emerald, twining their way up the trunks of the trees and out among the branches. These were decked in fiery orange trumpet shaped flowers, which gave a warm hue to the pink light.

The grass was mottled gold and bright green, and reflected the orange and pink light.

"It's… Beautiful," whispered Hero, and RGB's voice wasn't enough to snap her out of her daze so he had to find her sweater collar and give it a little tug.

She looked up as if remembering him with a big smile. "Come on! We'll be safe here!" She led the way, resisting the urge to hop along with her relief, and got RGB settled under one of the trees.

"Oh these flowers smell incredible!" she said, flopping on her back in the grass and looking up at the bright trees. "... RGB? Can you smell things? I mean…" She winced a little. "Before… This."

He nodded a little, then leaned his aching head back until it was resting against the tree trunk. "S-sort offfxx." He currently didn't have the words to describe how his sense of smell was more based on memories than anything else, how holding a flower up to his vents didn't work but if he just _imagined_ hard enough the sense would come.

He certainly couldn't smell right now though. Even the idea of concentrating was painful.

But… Sleep was the alternative and he didn't want any more painful dreams at the moment. Well, his dream had actually been quite the opposite of painful. He supposed it was the waking up he wasn't looking forwards to.

… But was seeing Magnus again in his dreams worth it?

 _Damn,_ he thought vehemently, so much so that his head gave a painful throb. _Why am I questioning this now? After ALL this time? I didn't even think about him so much after seeing him in the market. Ah well, perhaps getting your face smashed in meddles with a fellow's mind in more ways than one._

Because now that he had a moment to rest, he was suddenly plagued by the idea of that dream. By allowing himself help and security and not shutting another person out because he was afraid of losing them.

The real secret was, that was why RGB considered himself a coward. Not because he ran away from danger. No, that was prudence. His fear of closeness and of loss, now that was cowardice.

He wanted… First off, he wanted to apologize. He felt like something cold was dribbling down his insides, now that he thought about it. He'd almost died. Hell, he could easily still be dying (he didn't want to think about it). And if that happened and he never got to speak another word to Magnus, still running away from what he had done…

Oh, that would be awful.

He shook his head, trying to clear it. When did he become so soft? (It was probably getting attached to Hero that did it, now that he thought about it.)

(And another, equally as valid question could be what had made him so hard-hearted?)

He sighed. Maybe, if they got back to the market, and if they ran into Magnus again, he would say something. Yes, that sounded good. After all, the odds of that were quite high.

"... Szzzleeping now," he mumbled, having sorted that out for now. He heard a sleepy little 'night' in response before laying down and slowly drifting off.

While he slept without interruption, Hero did not. Every time she was almost asleep, she'd jerk back to the land of the waking and look back at RGB. She remembered the pool of ink, the trouble she'd had waking him…

What if the bandaids on his cartridges failed while she was asleep? What if he had another terrible dream and hurt himself? What if he _died?_

Being a caretaker was more stressful than she'd initially thought.

And so this sleeping and waking cycle continued. RGB was fine every time she jerked her way back to consciousness. He hasn't even shifted in his sleep, but she knew he was okay because he was murmuring things under his breath.

As tired people tend to do, however, she eventually slipped into a deep sleep. All was peaceful in the little grove, as the sky lightened and outlined the landscape with its yellow horizon.

One by one, the glow of the flowers faded.

 **AN: The plant species are real! The pink flowered trees are called mimosa, and the vines are orange trumpet vines**


	5. Chapter 5

**AN: Hey! Happy TPOH 7th anniversary! There will be 2 chapters after this; two different endings. I hope you've enjoyed Shattered thus far!**

The duo had risen early the next morning, eager to push on through the dead forest before any other unsavory beings became aware of them. Hero was loathe to leave the pretty glen behind though, and went around patting the trees on the trunks, thanking each one quietly for providing them a safe place to sleep.

RGB was still sitting in the grass below one of the trees, head sagging like a cinderblock, legs splayed in positions that looked uncomfortable but that he was too tired to change. He didn't want to hurry Hero, but he could feel himself running out of time.

He coughed a little, a feeble sound, and Hero came back over.

"Sorry RGB, I got distracted. Ready to go?"

He nodded, not feeling up to speaking as he pressed his back against the tree trunk and inched his way to his feet. He'd woken feeling like he hadn't slept at all, and wanted nothing more than to find some place actually comfortable to rest.

But he knew if he did that, he might never rise again.

But now he was on his feet again, holding the cane, putting one foot in front of the other and listening to the little pitter-patter of Hero's footsteps in front of him. He focused on that, trying not to think too much about his plan to speak to Magnus. He didn't want to chicken out now.

(Or think about how it was growing less and less likely he'd ever see the prism-head again. Or see again in general.)

And so he allowed himself to be led forward like a shambling zombie, breathing losing its rhythm slowly, slowly. His antennas no longer moved on their own, just hung over his screen like the boneless ears of a plush rabbit.

What RGB didn't know was that Hero had noticed. Hero could see him, and could hear him. She didn't say it, but she was careful to lead him around things his fumbling feet could catch on, steering the television monster around trees and down the clearest of paths.

Of course, that became harder when the hard ground began to turn to sand. The trees were also thinning even further.

But that was good. That meant they were almost to the sea. It also, however, meant RGB's shoes nearly shot out from under him when he first encountered a patch of sand on the stony ground. He turned a little, breathing heavily, head tilted in a quizzical way. She could tell he was asking what had just happened.

"Sand. We're almost to the sea, RGB," she said with a little smile, patting his hand. She made sure to keep the contact brief, both because of RGB's dislike of it and also because her hands were shaking.

He looked so bad. She genuinely was afraid his head would fall off.

"Just be careful to not slip! We'll go a little slower now." For all her fear, she did a good job of keeping the fact that she was afraid from showing in her voice at the moment. Brushing a blue tipped lock of hair from over her eye, tucking it into the boater hat, she gently moved forwards.

"Okay, step here… And here…"

Whenever they came to a sand dune that was too steep to walk down easily, they took it step by step, Hero stomping little footholds for RGB into the loose grains. She helped him put his feet in them until they got to the trough between dunes and continued on.

Hero was glad she had something else to focus on because, aside from her worry for RGB, she was also rapidly recalling how dark the space beneath the sea was. Yes, she had learned to listen, but both on the way to and from the market the fear had gotten to her at one point or another.

That couldn't happen during this trip.

But, all too soon, the television monster and the tiny hero found themselves looking into the abyss leading under the sea. Part of the portion they had come out of had collapsed right after they'd left due to some of the trees around the entrance dying off, but there was still a smaller opening leading inside. The dream crystals clustered there had grown larger, and were holding the sea up in place of the patch of missing trees.

Now the 'doorway,' so to speak, was about twice the height of a person. Hero looked up at it, peering inside to see the crystals glittering in the low light.

She could do this.

'C'mon, RGB, we're at the sea!"

"I g-gzzzeussed so," he said in soft, buzzing tone, speaking for the first time that day. He breathed in a deep albeit shuddering breath, straightening a little. "I'm rzzzzeady."

He thought, maybe, he caught a whisper of a voice coming from the cool void he knew he was standing before, curling up inside the hollow of his head and twining around his wires. But he must have been imagining it so he ignored it.

Hero began leading him into the dark, having to mentally ready herself for the task ahead. At least right now she could distract herself with maneuvering RGB around the crystals.

"You did it!" she exclaimed when the passage opened up into the cathedral-like space, making sure the tellyhead had his feet firmly planted. "I knew you could!"

RGB remembered telling her the same thing when she had finally put two and two together, at the other end of this very same passage. He remembered scooping her up, spinning in a circle and laughing. She had laughed too. He wished they would laugh together again soon, as cheesy as that sounded.

 _Stars above, nearly dying has turned me into a sap,_ he thought, trying to feel vehement though there was no bite behind it. _Although there is plenty of time left for you to kick the bucket._

He tried to banish the thought, even as his broken head ached and his antennas were numb and his body was bruised. Again, he thought he caught voices in the darkness that had engulfed him a few days prior, but he couldn't quite grasp it.

"Hzzzzero…" he asked, hesitantly, giving the cane a small tug. _Am I going mad?_ is what he wanted to ask, but didn't dare. "D-d-do y-you hzzzzzear anythingggg?"

He heard her footsteps stop and could imagine her cupping a hand behind her ear. "... Nope! Beside seeing in the dark. I can hear that!"

She sounded almost relieved at that, and RGB couldn't blame her.

"It's okay… I promise we'll be there soon… You'll be okay…" A small hand patted his glove, then retreated.

RGB nodded a little, head lolling. He shifted a foot forward, hardly lifting off the hard ground, shuffling forwards. The constant _shuff shuff_ of his soles did keep some of the whispers he now was SURE he could hear away, but all too soon he grew accustomed to the sound.

And then, only then, did the whispers come to him fully.

Well, they… They weren't even whispers, exactly. He more could hear them in his mind, hearing a sound and converting it to speech in his brain. And what those whispers said… They were his past heros, past loves, even people he possibly knew in his past life.

The things they said… The ghosts of his past did not simply wail, they howled and raged and guilted. Oh, he deserved it alright. Well, some of it at least. But they coalesced into a chorus that was steadily building, a headache that grew and grew until...

"Let me _die!_ " he shrieked, with more clarity to his words than there had been since this mess had started. No buzzes or static pops. "Hurtszzz… Hurts _so d-damn much_ , please PLEASE." He was clinging to her, much as he had when he'd first gotten hurt and had sobbed onto her shoulder.

Now his voice was ragged with sobs as well as glitches, Hero supporting nearly his full weight as she wrapped her arms around him. His broken antennas brushed her face and he wailed even more at the contact. They had been numb until they touched her.

He'd tried. He'd succeeded, for most of this trip to be strong for Hero, to not scare her and to keep her mostly in the dark about how he was doing.

But now, here, in the dark, he had come undone.

Dying was frightening to him because he knew with all the enemies he'd made it would be a terrible experience. It would hurt, and it was, in the deepest parts of him, pain he feared the most. But now life was so excruciating that he could not take another step, and he just wanted to slip away instead. Maybe the actual dying bit wouldn't be as bad, would be a relief…

"RGB." Hearing his name grounded him, just a little, enough to listen to what was going to be said next.

"RGB we're almost there," continued Hero, because of course it was Hero, the whispers weren't real. "I can see the light."

Ah, that damnable light at the end of the tunnel. Of _course_ it was that metaphorical light at the end of the tunnel. The bloody irony.

"I czzzzzAN'T," he muttered with conviction, pushing a knee under himself so he could support his own body.

"You CAN," Hero insisted, and he felt too tired to argue the point. He'd just have to push himself to continue. Just as he always had. (Though admittedly, he'd never been as bad off as this.)

Getting to his feet was, he thought in the moment, one of the hardest physical tasks he had ever done. This was the man (er, monster) who had launched himself and his charge across the market via an explosion, been punched by a grief, been attacked by a furious bundle of knives and candy, and had spent a great deal of time running. All in the past handful of days. And _still_ standing up after this ordeal was the hardest. Even the dread hadn't compared, in a way.

But he stood anyways, reaching a shaking, half limp hand to brush off his shoulder and just maybe shoo the whispers away. That didn't work, but at least the gesture reminded him a bit of himself.

They began to walk again, except now all of RGB was shaking, little tremors like he was cold. It wasn't cool enough for him to actual feel cold, and to Hero, he had been quite warm.

She was scared, terrified even, between the dark and RGB's breakdown and the fact that he seemed to, finally, be actively dying. All of these things were varying degrees of horrible on their own, but together… Her own panicked heartbeat was drowning out some of the audible cues from the world around her. She could see enough of the deep blue glow of the ocean and hear its rushing call to not bump into the walls, but she zigged and zagged erratically.

She didn't really have it in mind but deep down somewhere she figured that RGB was too delirious to notice her anxious paths. She at least hoped he was because...

She had lied about the light up ahead.

But actually, over time, she became more and more aware that there really WAS a light up ahead. It was getting closer, or they were getting closer. Hero had to shield her eyes when they finally did reach the Market, sounds finally growing into the babble of the sellers and their customers.

She had to find the Guardians and see if they would allow RGB to get fixed here… But she was interrupted by RGB speaking again.

"Ah," he stated weakly. "Th-the Mzzzarket."

And with that, he passed out where he stood.


End file.
